Stringed instruments, and specifically acoustical guitars, require a tailblock which is mounted at the bottom of the guitar along the longitudinal axis thereof, the tailblock being securely fixed between the top and bottom walls at the junction between the lower ends of the curved side walls. This tailblock is required to provide the guitar body with means for permitting the thin top, bottom and side walls to be securely joined together, and at the same time provide the guitar body with the necessary strength and rigidity. This tailblock, which provides the guitar with the necessary balance, has also been conventionally utilized for mounting thereon the strap hanger. In the case of guitars with tailpieces for attaching the strings, similar to a violin, the tailblock helps withstand the pull of the strings, by supporting said tailpieces.
With round-hole guitars built in a conventional manner utilizing a fixed interior tailblock, as explained above, access to the interior of the guitar, such as for maintenance purposes, is extremely difficult. Normally such access is possible only by first removing the strings, whereupon an individual can then insert his hand through the hole in the sounding board in an attempt to gain access to the interior of the guitar body. Even with the strings removed, access to some internal areas is very awkward. In the case of guitars built with "f" holes instead of a single round hole, the back must usually be removed to gain more than the most limited access to the interior of the instrument. Needless to say, this makes maintaining or servicing the guitar extremely difficult.
In acoustical guitars provided with electronic sound amplification, the electronic signal is generated in three basic ways. Microphones may be located externally or fastened inside the soundbox. A second method uses a transducer element to transform vibration of the sounding board or the bridge, or pressure variation under the bridge saddle, into an electronic signal. The third method of amplifying an acoustical guitar uses an electromagnetic pickup to sense the movement of the ferrous strings through a magnetic field immediately beneath them, with a resultant generation of an electronic signal in a coil which is wound around a magnet.
In addition to a pickup or signal generator, the electronic amplification circuit usually also utilizes various additional electronic components to control the volume and tone of the electronic output. Guitars have been constructed wherein some of these electronic components have been mounted within the interior of the guitar body. Usually these components are wired together into a "harness" and are mounted through separate and appropriate apertures in the top or sides of the instrument. To provide access to these electronic components, they have also been mounted on a removable panel associated with the bottom wall of the guitar body, or in the alternative on a small removable panel associated with the side wall or rim. In this regard, attention is directed to guitars possessing features of this general type, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,781,451 and French Patent No. 1,379,666.
In those guitars wherein the electronics are associated with the back wall, such as incorporating a removable back panel, this has proven undesirable since the back wall of the guitar body is an important vibrating member. Thus, mounting the electronics on the back wall, and incorporating a removable back panel into the back wall, thus seriously affects the acoustical properties of the guitar.
With respect to mounting the electronics on a removable panel associated with one of the side walls or rim, similar to that disclosed in the above-identified French patent, this type structure is also unsatisfactory since it increases the overall complexity of the guitar construction in view of the thin and delicate nature of the curved side wall, and necessitates adding additional supporting blocks, and hence mass, to the side wall or rim, which supporting blocks are also sometimes secured to the top and bottom walls. This thus increases the mass and stiffness of the rim and sometimes the sounding board, and hence reduces the desired vibration characteristics. Since the optimum guitar construction minimizes the weight and stiffness of the rim, the mounting of additional reinforcement for a removable panel on or associated with the rim is hence undesired. Further, this location of the removable panel does not provide the most convenient access to the interior of the guitar body, particularly when access to the headblock is necessary.
The present invention thus relates to an improvement in stringed instruments, particularly acoustical guitars, which improvement overcomes the disadvantages associated with known guitars of the above-described type.
In the present invention, there is provided an improved stringed instrument, specifically an acoustical guitar, which utilizes a removable tailblock assembly to provide the necessary constructional features required to permit construction of the guitar, and at the same time to provide simple and convenient access to the total interior of the guitar body for permitting required adjustment or maintenance in a simple and efficient manner. This removable tailblock assembly permits an individual to readily insert his hand and arm into the interior of the guitar body so that the interior bracing or the headblock can be conveniently adjusted or serviced. This adjustment and access is possible without requiring removal of the guitar strings. The removable tailblock assembly also facilitates the mounting of electronic components therein in situations where electronic amplification of the sound is desired. The electronic components are mounted directly on the inner surface of a removable tail plate, so that the electronics can be easily serviced and maintained. The removable tailblock assembly of this invention provides the guitar with the required strength and balance, and the required constructional convenience, and at the same time provides greatly improved access to the interior of the guitar and access to desired electronic components. By providing this access through use of a removable tail plate, the removable component (namely the tail plate) is disposed at a location on the guitar body which is not critical from the standpoint of its acoustical characteristics. Since the tailblock must be present in a guitar to provide a gluing surface for joining the top, back and side walls, to provide reinforcement for the end pin (from which the instrument is commonly supported by a shoulder strap), and in the case of a guitar whose strings are anchored on a tail piece, to provide reinforcement for the tail piece, the construction of this tailblock to permit mounting of a removable tail plate does not in any way increase the weight or the contact surface of the tailblock with the top and back beyond what is normally required. In the case that electronic components are mounted to the tail plate, these components are mounted to the instrument in the least damaging way acoustically, as they are mounted in an existing structure that is normally acoustically "dead" anyway. The present invention thus provides greatly improved access to the interior of the guitar body, and also provides greatly improved access to any interior electronic components if same are utilized, without affecting either the construction, structure, appearance or acoustical characteristics of the guitar.
In the improved guitar of the present invention, same is provided with a removable tailblock assembly which replaces the conventional fixed interior tailblock. This improved tailblock assembly provides a ringlike tailblock which is disposed in the interior of the guitar body and extends between the top and bottom walls, and is secured to the inner face of the end portions of the curved side walls at their junction. The end portions of the side walls have notches or openings formed therein which align with the opening in the tailblock. A ringlike insert is fixedly positioned within these latter openings, and is fixedly secured to the guitar body, such as to the side walls. This insert defines therethrough a rather large opening which is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the guitar body and provides convenient access to the interior thereof. The insert has suitable webs or seats formed adjacent the inner end thereof, and a removable panel or tail plate is positioned within the insert so as to close off the opening, the tail plate being fixedly secured to the insert by means of a fastener, such as screws or the like. The removable tail plate mounts thereon a conventional strap holder. Further, electronic components can be fixedly mounted on the interior face of the removable tail plate so that, by removing the plate, the electronic components are readily accessible and servicable at a location exterior of the guitar body.
The structure of the present invention, including other objects and purposes thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.